Public employees in Illinois did not want to pay mandatory union fees in a state where all employees who work in a job with unions must pay “fair share” dues, omitting portions of the fee that go towards political action.

Janus argues that the required fees are a violation of his First Amendment free speech rights because the Union engages in speech and causes that he disagrees with, referred to as a compelled speech.

Unions obviously view a decision against them as 1) would bring about their demise, 2) would take away worker protections as it relates minorities and women, and 3) there is no first amendment right to be free from compelled subsidies, 4) that Janus’ characterization of unions as purely political is a gross mischaracterization of union activities.

In our final segment, a new Dear Betsy segment devolves into a discussion about nothing, kind of like Seinfeld, and kind of like Betsy Devos’ actual work with education…nothing!

Ed's (Not) Dead will be our take on the hottest issues of the day affecting education. We think we bring a unique perspective to all things education because of our individual backgrounds and because once upon a time we worked closely together in the field. We rarely agree or see things the same way on education issues, but we share a profound commitment to improving education.